The ascent of the Philippine Women`s national football team in the latest FIFA rankings should serve as a challenge for the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) to better support women’s football in the country, said PFF President Mariano Araneta Jr.
The Malditas’ ranking improved from 67th last year to 65th, based on the latest rankings the FIFA released on December 18. It’s the highest FIFA ranking attained by the Philippine national women’s football team so far.
“We congratulate the Women’s National Team for this achievement,” said Araneta in a statement released to the media on Saturday.
“The ranking is a reward for the hard work and sacrifices of the people involved in women’s football in the country especially the players and coaches and of course, the PFF Women’s Committee. Certainly, this is a clear indication that women’s football in the country is continuously improving. As much as we are proud of this achievement, this also serves as a challenge for the PFF to make sure that the women’s national team and women’s football in general is given the support and the platform to succeed,” Araneta said.
PFF Secretary-General and lawyer Edwin Gastanes said the federation would continue to explore opportunities to develop women’s football in the country.
“Women’s football has been on a steady rise over the past few years,” he said, adding, “Much of the development in the women’s game is credited to the successes of the women’s national team, notably their fourth-place finish in both the AFF Women’s Championship and the 30th SEA (Southeast Asian) Games last year. There are more opportunities in the pipeline for women’s football in the coming years which the PFF and the team will continue to explore with passion.”